Development and Implementation of a Hospitalist Faculty Development Program in a University- and Community-Based Multihospital System.

Abstract

Objectives: Robust faculty development (FD) is an emerging area of focus within hospital medicine, a relatively new specialty with limited mentorship infrastructure to find and develop a professional niche. There are few descriptions in the literature of establishing and evaluating an FD program with strategies to evaluate success, invite collaboration, and achieve feasible, useful metrics.

Methods: We created our University Division of Hospital Medicine's FD Program to help community and academic hospitalist faculty fulfill professional goals in (and beyond) quality improvement, leadership, education, and clinical skills. We describe program development, initial implementation, and early evaluation results. We outline program roles and offerings such as professional development awards, lectures, and mentorship structures.

Results: Our program was successfully implemented, measured by engagement and participation via preliminary indicators suggesting programmatic effectiveness: faculty who applied for (and continued participation in) mentorship and faculty development awards and faculty who attended our lecture series. Since program implementation, faculty retention has increased, and percentages of faculty reporting they were likely to remain were stable, even during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Scholarly production increased and the number of division associate professors/professors grew from 2 in 2015 to 19 in 2024.

Conclusions: Our experience can guide institutions seeking to support and encourage faculty professional development. Lessons learned include the importance of needs assessment and leadership commitment to meeting identified needs; how a steering committee can amplify the effectiveness and relevance of FD efforts; and the utility of multiple recognition strategies-quarterly newsletters, monthly clinical recognition, mentions on social media-to support and encourage faculty.